Everyday Glitter: MichFest Edition

We’re rounding the last and biggest stretch of Gay Stamina Month and I’m sitting at home on a Friday night instead of going out. Of course I’m pondering in the back of my mind what I might be missing out on but I like to think that if I’m not there they aren’t experiences I was meant to have. I’m also thinking about how there’s a theory in yoga about Shavasana–corpse pose/rest period–that when you do it between poses it actually heightens the poses’ affects on your body. That maybe instead of trying to cram in all of the big Pride activities into my schedule I’ll instead focus on just a few and savor the delights of each of them. My Pride Agenda was only a tiny handful of the hundreds of events happening this weekend. It’s nice to think I’m savoring this Pride weekend instead of marching everywhere and alternately downing gatorade and alcohol.

Last Friday I published a long post about the efforts of Trans Womyn Belong Here and wanted to follow that up with a post about what else happened last year. Like Pride, Michfest is a huge undertaking, with hundreds of workshops, concerts, informal meetings, parties, performances, meals and catching-up with old friends (not to mention that I work eight hour days thirty minutes outside of downtown Festival) I could do the same running ragged thing I used to be inclined toward.

Instead, this year, I focused on letting go of my high expectations for doing things and let the Goddess be my scheduler. It made things really beautiful with a lot of opportunity for quiet Shavasana. The glory of a digital camera and my relentless documentation of my queer life has helped these past few years for me to record precious memories, and 2011 Fest for me was not spectacular or earth shattering. It was better than that, a lot of joy in the everydayness of two weeks in a wym-created wilderness civilization. I barely make any of my photos public but I wanted to share a little of what makes this place so special to me.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE FIRST: SPA TREATMENTS IN THE WOODS

I took Glamping to a new level last year. Being fairly broke when I got to the Land, I sold some merch during the worker craft fair, a two hour affair where folks browse one another’s wares and buy much coveted wooden labri or show off some great art. It’s really one of my favorite events.

My merch. I still have some of those bandannas, if you’re interested they’re 10 bucks each. Hand silk-screened in Brooklyn and super high quality.

It’s pretty incredible what you can do in the woods that isn’t at all like camping. Sam is an aesthetician by trade and brought an entire facial experience into a screen tent she shares with the hair stylist Adriana. Sam does everything except extractions. The experience of getting a facial was totally decadent. It was only the second one I’ve ever had! My skin felt like a baby afterward.

Sam giving Gilly a foot treatment.

Getting a facial in the woods!!

There’s no express guarantee this haircut will get you laid but it’s pretty likely.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE SECOND: HAPPY HOURS

My friends Suzanne and Jen regularly have happy hours in the woods. This involves coolers, camp chairs and beer. They’re super welcoming. I’m the kind of person who camps alone and doesn’t bring living room stuff, and the money it would require to supply ice for a cooler for my like one daily Diet Coke isn’t worth it. But the collective magic of Suzanne and Jen’s place makes it possible to enjoy an icy brew when happy hour strikes and I’m passing by. The generosity in the form of cold beer and beverages on the Land is pretty incredible.

Suzanne introduced me to this beer while at a happy hour near her tent. I forget if she bought this awesome dress at the worker craft fair but I highly encouraged it.

I am very iced tea identified so I made some in the sun. I love a sun tea in the afternoon and the happy buzz from too much caffeine around 7PM.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE THIRD: CATCHING UP WITH FRIENDS

Without fail, every single time I tried to set-up a time to hang out with a friend one or both of us had to cancel. Which is difficult to do in a land with no text messaging. I was amazed to find out when I didn’t try to plan it I had quality time with every friend I intended to as well as more new ones. Sometimes I ended up skipping a concert or whatever it was I was heading towards but it was good, regardless.

My heart swells and pops when I see Victoria on the Land. She also drives a TRACTOR. Hottest Femme ever.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE FOURTH: THE CALM BEFORE THE PARTY

Me and Claire and a red solo cup. Also that light stick around my neck is AWESOME. It’s an effective flashlight, lantern and flashy disco party light all in one.

I have a really hard time with missing out on parties. I love going to the Twilight Zone Party Pit at night (the “loud and rowdy” camping area, neighbors to to S&M Cul-de-Sac) but ever since I started working the Festival I can barely make it out there at night. I am usually totally beat. So on Saturday night, intent on making it to a lesbian kegger in the woods at least once that week, I got off work at 10:30PM and walked over to the firepit. My pals who camp there and didn’t go to night stage were stoking the flames building a bonfire and setting up for chocolate pudding wrestling. (I like to call it yeast infection wrestling, but there is a shower really nearby.)

Jess, tending the fire.

I had a great time sitting in someone’s loaned camp chair and sharing some kind of intense alcohol combination in a bottle with my friend Jess. I’m sure there was something bad decision making in that bottle but it was fine with me. I was excited to just get to hang with pals and not be worried about being too “on” for the party. As folks started coming back to the Party Pit I enjoyed the energy but was actually pretty grateful to have experienced the low-key part, before the drumming and yelling started for pudding wrestling, while it was just a few folks and a fire pit and the promise of a night. Something about the woods making noises more subtle when you’re mellow and then a cacophony when they get crazy.

Quinn!

That bottle…

I left to go to the bathroom at some point and then just started on the half hour midnight trek to my tent on the other side of the Land, satisfied I had the exact kind of night I hadn’t intended but enjoyed very much.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE FIFTH: BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE

About four days into the Festival I realized I had hardly seen any half-naked or scantily clad fat Femmes roaming the Land. There had been plenty of thinner Femmes wearing just bras and panties or whatever lingerie but hardly any fats. I wanted it to change and I realized I needed to be the change I wanted to see. As scandalous as some of my outfits can be I actually rarely go out even on stage in anything resembling just a bra and panties. But I decided to revise my Femme Parade outfit to reflect my new intention.

It’s not that big of a deal in the scheme of things, in an environment as supportive and full of body diversity as Michfest, but it’s still a big deal to do something outside of your comfort zone for the first time. And it was for me. And I was glad I did it.

There’s never enough time or capacity to get it all down after it happens. Years ago I used to bring a journal to Fest thinking I would sit under a tree and record things and I would get around to that maybe once and abandon it. I’m an extrovert and always want to get into stuff so I keep myself pretty busy.

I made time last year to sit and write in my tent and in the woods (I camp in a pretty quiet neighborhood) and then I would fall asleep for a half an hour and wake up to sun-dappled woods and the far-off sounds of rehearsing and get myself up to go back out to the Fest.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE SEVENTH: JAMMING IN FRONT OF THE JANES

So one day I was walking nowhere in particular and ended up seeing Gretchen Phillips playing a tiny keyboard with a microphone in front of the Janes. I rolled up and she handed the microphone to someone else who started singing or scatting, making up some song. My friend Gilly joined us and we stood there dancing to this impromptu jam session. It was really fun and probably the best my heart has felt in a long time.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE EIGHTH: PICK-UP SHOWERS

One of the best, probably not intentional, aspects of Festival is that the rehearsal tent for artists is across from where the Workerville showers are. I love to time my showers when my favorite bands are rehearsing. This is not something you can really plan, but you can let it happen.

One day I was laying around with this puppy pile:

Lexi, Amanda and T laying around and chatting.

And then I heard the beginning of MEN rehearsing. So I hopped up and made my way to the showers. Live music and showering are a special only at Fest kind of thing.

Also MEN’s show was really great. During their encore for “Who Am I to Feel So Free” they all took their clothes off and performed it naked. Such a special, intimate moment, if it can be intimate with a thousand people. I think at Michfest it can.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE EIGHTH: TREATS

Treats are something you have to bring as part of your glamping entourage but you can buy ice cream during the week of Festival.

My favorite chips and you can only get them in Michigan.

This sheet cake was amazing and I was so happy that Hollywood had a birthday. I was also shocked that she was forty.

Leah and Lauren brought a seltzer maker to make their glamping more complete.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE NINTH: THAT TIME I USED A SLEDGEHAMMER

People love cleavage and a sledge.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE TENTH: THE SKY

Nature puts on quite a show on the Land. I really did do a lot of looking up/tripping over things last summer.

EVERYDAY GLITTER THE ELEVENTH: THE RUNNING OF THE TARPS

I forget which concert I really wanted to be close to, but I participated in the ritual I hadn’t done since I was 23 and really needed to see [insert band or spoken word poet] up close. The line opens at 6PM (6:05 for workers) to go put down your tarps to get prime concert seat space for the night stage shows. I used to wait in line forever and ever for that prime seating. This time I brought my little beach chair and waited ten minutes or so for the workers’ run. It was actually really fun, and sort of nostalgic to do something that I used to be so fervent about when I was in my early 20s. It’s awesome to go back to a place for so long that I have nostalgia.

The line (on the worker side).

The running.

Success! Dana and Fae.

(This is my co-pilot, Dana. Since I sold my Prius we are going to drive to Fest together in my roommate’s conversion van! The gas is going to be triple the cost but it will be fun.)

Security. Heron makes sure the running of the tarps is orderly.

*****
I’m publishing this post two days later–it takes a long time to go through the photos from Fest! Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Gay Stamina Month and for those of you I’ll see in the woods in 6 weeks I can’t wait! xoxo

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This makes me miss Fest sooooo badly. I used to every year, and met my ex-wife there, but she’s a worker, and basically made it clear I’m not welcome anymore. I think it would be too hard to go and have to see her and all of the friends I’ve lost because of the breakup. But oh, it’s such a magical place.

Coming out is such an intensely personal decision, since being queer is somewhat of a seemingly mutable way of being different. ("Passing" as straight is easier for some than others, and it is often tied to gender presentation.) I thought in honor of the occasion, and the fact that I told this story to my friends Jenna and Rick at my Epic High Holiday Shabbat dinner on Friday, I would share it here!

We’ve been in our house for two and a half weeks and have so many more boxes than I thought we still would. In my visions, we were mostly unpacked by now. In April of last year I had a meltdown about how our house wasn’t yet together and somehow I had that same meltdown on Monday of this past week, a full three months early. The last house we had complex attic clean outs and renovations that slowed things down. This time it was major surgery for Dara.

What a weird juxtaposition--this week in the United States we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and we experience the inauguration of an openly racist, xenophobic, rapist. I've been thinking a lot about what individual activists can do to keep our spirits up in spite of what is to come. I think it is vital we resist. I also think that if MLK, Jr. was still alive he would lead us in peaceful, loving resistance. Because we don't have his leadership in person, we can be inspired by his legacy to do something on January 20th!

I'm Bevin your Femmecee at QueerFatFemme.com, where I chronicle the relentless pursuit of my joy. Life is really great when you learn to love your body and step out of the closet! I believe all bodies are good bodies and work to make the world safe for people to love themselves. I blog about body liberation, travel, plus size fashion, sexuality, relationships, spirituality, authenticity, and having a really fun life following your own inner guidance. I love Dolly Parton, Miss Piggy, Dorothy Allison and Alice Walker. Grab a cup of tea, cozy up to your computer and enjoy!

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